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Learned a new word recently? Share it by posting it here; give its definition.... and hey, gotta live dangerously, right?.... use it in a sentence. :thumbs_up
I'll have the first word ;)
Gelid - very cold; icy.
The wicked witch rested her gelid fingers on the newborn baby's bald head.
limacine - of, relating to, or resembling a slug
The limacine couch potato is distressed, he cannot reach the remote.
I've got another one!
gustation - the act or sensation of tasting
The gustation of the chocolate cream pie almost made me lose consciousness last night...just kidding :D
I love new vocabulary! Is anyone else going to join in?
Tyro - a novice; neophyte; a beginner in learning anything. (from Latin tiro, meaning 'recruit').
The ten-year-old tyro from Turkey has just unseated the long-time undisputed World Cheese Chomping champion.
Oppugn - to assail by criticism, argument, or action; to call in question; to dispute, oppose, contradict.
The employees oppugned management's decision to close the factory in Florida.
Vulpine - of or resembling a fox; cunning or crafty.
The vulpine vagabond stole the unsuspecting students' sandwiches.
decorticate - peel
I can't eat apples unless they are decorticated.
philippic - any speech or discourse of bitter denunciation; a tirade.
The preacher's philippic concerning church members who marry non-believers was ardently applauded by the elders.
fusty :
- having a stale smell; moldy; musty.
- old fashioned or out-of-date, as architecture, furnishings, or the like.
- stubbornly conservative or old-fashioned; fogyish.
The little old lady refused to let go of her family's fusty furniture.
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"The trouble is, you get used to hell," ...
~ from THE FIFTH CHILD (by Doris Lessing)
Disport-To frolic or amuse.
internecine :
- of or pertaining to conflict or struggle within a group, organization, or nation.
- mutually destructive; ruinous or fatal to both sides.
- characterized by great slaughter; deadly.
(origin: Latin - to kill out, exterminate)
The megacorporation collapsed because of incessant internecine clashes among its major stockholders.
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currently reading : The Facts Behind The Helsinki Roccamatios and Other Stories (by Yann Martel)
persiflage
- light, bantering talk or writing.
- a frivolous or flippant style of treating a subject.
The young man's persiflage did not endear him to his girlfriend's grandfather.
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currently reading : Billy Bathgate (by E.L. Doctorow)
discalciate (sp?)
to take off one's shoes.
Insouciant [adj]: casually unconcerned
Her insouciant reaction spoke volumes about her real affections towards him.
agglomerating: a mass of things clustered together.
agglomerating objects into unweidly groups (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo pg 81
egregious
- extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant.
The couturier's egregious summer collection did not daunt his most faithful clients from buying his creations.
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The last thing we want to admit is that the bickering of the playground perfectly presages the machinations of the boardroom, that our social hierarchies are merely an extension of who got picked first for the kickball team, and that grown-ups still get divided into bullies and fatties and crybabies. What's a kid to find out?
( We Need To Talk About Kevin - - by Lionel Shriver)
sententious
- adjective
1. abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims.
2. given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous.
- Synonyms : preachy, didactic, sanctimonious, moralistic
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currently reading :
The Hound of the Baskervilles
- by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
parvenu
- noun
1. a person who has recently or suddenly acquired wealth, importance, position, or the like, but has not yet developed the conventionally appropriate manners, dress, surroundings, etc.
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currently reading : A Clockwork Orange (by Anthony Burgess)
contumacy
- Obstinate or contemptuous resistance to authority; stubborn rebelliousness.
lucubration :
- noun
1. laborious work, study, thought, etc., esp. at night.
2. a learned speech or dissertation.
3. Often, lucubrations : any literary effort, esp. of a pretentious or solemn nature.
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Currently reading :
Life of Pi (by Yann Martel)
ostentatious
Adj. 1. intended to attract notice and impress others; "an ostentatious sable coat"
2. (of a display) tawdry or vulgar
goombah :
- noun Slang.
1. a companion or associate, esp. an older person who mentors and advises; a godfather.
2. a member of a criminal organization.
Origin : probably alteration of Italian compare (godfather)
Interdict
1. To prohibit or place under an ecclesiastical or legal sanction.
2. To forbid or debar, especially authoritatively.
kibitz :
- verb
1. to offer advice or criticism.
2. to look on and offer unwanted, usually meddlesome advice to others.
3. to chat; converse.
termagant :
- noun
1. a violent, turbulent, nagging, bad-tempered woman.
2. (initial capital letter) a mythical deity popularly believed in the Middle Ages to be worshipped by the Muslims and introduced into the morality play as a violent, overbearing personage in long robes.
- adjective
3. violent; turbulent; brawling; scolding; shrewish.
- Synonyms : shrew, virago, harridan, scold.
[Origin : alteration of Tervagan name of the imaginary deity.]
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Currently reading : The Poisonwood Bible (by Barbara Kingsolver)
cabal :
- noun
1. a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority.
2. the plots and schemes of such a group; intrigue.
3. a clique, as in artistic, literary, or theatrical circles.
- verb
4. to conspire; plot
- Synonyms : junta, faction, band, league, ring.
somnambulate:
–verb
to walk during sleep; sleepwalk.
palooka :
- noun
1. an incompetent or easily-defeated athlete, esp. a boxer; mediocre prizefighter.
2. a stupid, clumsy person.
[Origin : 1920-25, Americanism, orig. uncertain]
mendacious :
- adjective
1. dishonest, lying, untruthful.
2. false, untrue.
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Currently reading : The Winter's Tale (by William Shakespeare)
Absquatulate (verb):
To make off, decamp, or abscond
Dactylonomy (noun):
The art of counting on the fingers (not just using each finger to count to ten, but using each knuckle, joint, and bone, allowing the skilled dactylonomist to count up to 9,999
Interesting words there, djy!
contumely :
- noun
1. insulting display of contempt in words or actions; contemptuous or humiliating treatment.
2. a humiliating insult.
- Synonyms : abuse, scorn, disdain, rudeness
arrant :
- adjective
1. downright; thorough; unmitigated; notorious: an arrant malefactor
2. wandering; errant
- Synonyms : thoroughgoing, utter, confirmed, flagrant
dearth)
noun: an insufficient quantity or number
What I like about this forum is the dearth of boring people! :D
hubris :
-noun
1. overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance.
Origin : Greek > hybris = insolence.
locum :
- noun
1. someone (esp. doctor, dentist, clergyman) who substitutes temporarily for another member of the same profession.
effete :
- adjective
1. marked by self-indulgence, triviality; lacking in wholesome vigor; degenerate; decadent: an effete society.
2. worn out; no longer productive.
- Synonyms : enervated, debilitated
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Currently reading : Six Young Filipino Martyrs (edited by Asuncion David Maramba)
peroration :
- noun
1. a long speech characterized by lofty and pompous language.
verboten :
- adj.
1. forbidden, prohibited.
2. excluded from use or mention.
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When we're all gone at last then there'll be nobody here but death and his days will be numbered too. He'll be out in the road there with nothing to do and nobody to do it to. He'll say: Where did everybody go?
~ from The Road (by Cormac McCarthy)
caliginous :
-adj.
1. misty, dim, dark.
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Currently reading : Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture (by Apostolos Doxiadis)
mundanity: the quality of being ordinary
I know the word mundane, but I didn't know for sure if it was an accepted suffix; apparently it is (although my spell check is a bit wary of it!)
One of the mundanities of life is looking things up in the dictionary.
And wow, bouquin, I am deeply impressed with your voracious curiosity about words!